Jeff Zittrain

Jeff Zittrain

strumming into the void: music and writings

Photos

Music and Videos

Writings

Welcome!

Bio

“Jeff Zittrain obviously is a true student of his instrument being able to take a song into his capable hands and transform it at will”  
– West Coast Performer Magazine

“A guitar God, a guru, a piano man, a philosopher—someone I am honored to call friend!”
Chance the Poet (as a birthday greeting…)

This page is being updated. Here is the original 2006-11 text written by Kynd Music editor Dave Terpeny.
“To understand Jeff Zittrain you have to understand his roots. He grew up in Pittsburgh, home of the rough and tumble Steelers, listening to the sounds of Blue Oyster Cult, The Who and The Doors. Then along came the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, The Band…and Zittrain went on the road. Along the way he met T.S. Eliot, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. He followed the Dead into the Rockies, left his body and went jumping for joy with “The Mighty Quinn”, and hit the ground running in the promised land – San Francisco. There Zittrain began shaping his ragged, psychedelic and soulful rock and roll sound. Blending his gritty roots with poetic lyricism and improvisational inspiration he performed with the alt-country rockers Absent Iris, the jamband Shirking Violet, the roots rockers Personal Demons and the genre-bending power trio Famous Last Words (FLW). As the primary songwriter in FLW he released two critically acclaimed albums, garnering an All Music Guide 4 Stars and a CD Baby Editors Pick as well as features and reviews in Relix Magazine, Hittin’ The Note, An Honest Tune, HearMusic, West Coast Performer Magazine and KyndMusic, a song on NBC TV, a “Lyrics as Poetry” award, and a streaming slot on The Rex Foundation website. But Jeff Zittrain is not content to rest on his laurels. Stepping out as a solo artist with the Z-Trane Electric Band, he has taken his expansive and raw music to the next level. The response has been incredible. In the first 9 months of 2007 Zittrain was invited to perform as a featured artist at:

Living With War Neil Young Hootenany
The San Francisco Folk Festival
The British Invasion Showcase
The prestigious Music & Dance Collaboration Project, where he graced the program’s cover

In the midst of all that excitement Zittrain, who’s shared a bill with Steve Kimock, Carlos Santana, Mike Gordon, Leo Kottke, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Leftover Salmon, Little Feat, Derek Trucks and Eliza Gilkyson, has continued playing select shows throughout the Bay Area with the Z-Trane Band and side project Flaming Telepaths “the thinking person’s psychedelic Blue Oyster Cult jam band.” He is represented by Spirit Vibrations Booking in CA and KyndManagement out of Washington D.C..As 2011 races into winter Zittrain is putting the finishing touches on his upcoming live album. Recorded over three nights in San Francisco and Berkeley, CA it promises to highlight classics and introduce new material to his ever growing legion of fans.”
– Dave Terpeny, KyndManagement

Announcements

Welcome to my new site!It's pretty much ready to go, but parts are still in the process of migrating over from Dreamweaver. A lot of...
Read More "Announcements"

Photos

An awesome backdrop , Boston 2019
Z-Trane Electric Band, Mystic Theater Petaluma, 2009
Z-Trane Electric Band hitting a high drama pose, San Francisco
Rob Rothfarb and JZ power the Flaming Telepaths
Video shoot, 2011
“Your light comes shinin’ down, turning my whole world blue…”
“Who if I cried out would hear me among the Angels’ hierarchies?” – Rainer Maria Rilke
With SamRi on vocals covering Jefferson Airplane, who featured this video on their website…!

Z-Trane Electric Band rocks a cool light show at the Berkeley Art House, 2024

Z-Trane Electric Band, Concord, 2018
“The Good” – Z-Trane in Sunnyvale, 2010
Flaming Telepaths in SF, 3/22/13
Flaming Telepaths video shoot, February 2011
Flaming Telepaths rock “Slaughter by the Water”, Alameda 2012
Gunslingin’
“You gotta play your harp until your lips bleed” – SF, August ’09
Z-Trane in SF, 2018
With Melne on guest cowbell, Dec 2015
Z-Trane with Sparky Grinstead at the Dylan Tribute, SF, May 2012
Telepaths going into our creative “Whole Lotta Love” interpolation in “7 Screaming Dizbusters”
A priest rocks the guest cowbell in SF
Where there’s smoke, there’s Flaming Telepaths
Getting down at Giordano Bros in SF with Eric Schultz on sax, Jan 2011
Collaboration Music and Dance with the inimitable Tom Mayock at the beautiful Cowell Theater, SF
This was on the cover of the program…! (and someone remarked “I didn’t know Thom Yorke played with Carlos Santana”)

Getting into the Stones vibe to sit in with Chick Jagger Dec 2015
Reconnecting with Tanya Donelly at the Belly reunion, SF
Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma meets his high school hero Jeff Zittrain (wait, reverse that…)
Flaming Telepaths with BOC mastermind and my friend, the late great Sandy Pearlman
Hanging with Kristin Hersh at the studio where she was mixing her solo album
Z-Trane at Fort Mason, SF
Always looked to me like a lost outtake photo from the Pete Townshend/Ronnie Lane “Rough Mix” album.
Green lighting always adds to the drama…
Someone sent this super cool photoshop to me…
A reflective moment with Ganesh…
JZ Band, Kind of Blue SF, April 2012
Z-Trane as a 5-piece with 3 vocals and violin, May 2018
“Born Under a Bad Sign” – complete with slick Albert King button down shirt
A nice, moody b/w shot for the artsy types
This screenshot is from when my brother was on his show, but Colbert somehow knew to make a Dylan allusion…
6th Annual Bob Dylan Tribute, SF, May 2012
Z-Trane, 2010
Telepaths video, April 2012
It’s all in the strum, Oakland 2001
Pensive moment in Monterey
Hitting a peak at the Starry Plough, Berkeley 2015
Creativity is not confined to one axe…
Flaming Telepaths promo shot, 2009
“The Good, the Beard, and the Trekkie” Halloween 10/30/10
“Wah – wah – wahhh…” Could I sing with this prop? Close, but no cigar…
Yukking it up with JZ Band, Oct 2012
A nice moody band shot, Z-Trane 2019
Well, we have a cover image if we ever make a cd called “Karina’s Laundry” – Z-Trane on the Streets of San Francisco
Another Halloween…!
Recording can be…goofy…(the hat is keeping my headphones from falling off)

Z-Trane 2018

Z-Trane Electric Band 2024

Announcements

Welcome to my new site!It’s pretty much ready to go, but parts are still in the process of migrating over from Dreamweaver. A lot of cool photos from the “Photos” page are swimming around in the ether. Computer stuff can be frustrating and tedious, who knew…?